Litigation Lawyers in North Little Rock

In North Little Rock, Arkansas, a civil deposition is a part of the discovery procedure in civil litigation.

"Discovery" is a procedure that happens before a trial in North Little Rock, Arkansas. During the discovery process, both sides are obligated to make relevant information available to each other.

One of the most effective ways to obtain information relevant to a lawsuit in North Little Rock, Arkansas is to conduct a deposition of a party who you believe to be privy to that information. A deposition is a Q&A session between an attorney representing one of the parties to a lawsuit, and someone who has knowledge relevant to the lawsuit. This can be one of the parties, or a witness. The individual being deposed is sworn in, and must answer all of the questions presented to them under oath. An attorney representing the other side can object to lines of questioning, on every grounds that would be valid during in-court testimony. The purpose of this is mainly to get the objection on the record, but if it proves to be a major sticking point, a judge can rule on the objections later. If any questions are found to be invalid, the questions, and their answers, will not be shown to the jury during trial. This is much more effective than simply instructing the jury to disregard a question and answer they've already heard.

Conducting A Civil Deposition in North Little Rock, Arkansas

Depositions in North Little Rock, Arkansas are meant to get verbal testimony on the record and into evidence, when there is concern that the individual being deposed might be unable to show up and testify at trial, or their testimony will take far too long for them to testify at trial.

It should not be any shock, then, that civil depositions in North Little Rock, Arkansas can go on for a very long time. If you are contacted to appear in a deposition in North Little Rock, Arkansas, this can be a major headache.

Thus, North Little Rock, Arkansas's civil procedure rules allow a person to be compensated for the time and money they spend in appearing at a deposition. If the witness lives far away from the location of the deposition, as is occasionally the case in large trials, they can be reimbursed for travel and lodging expenses, and compensated for their time. However, this money cannot be used to influence HOW they testify, just to mitigate the inconvenience linked with testifying.

When giving a deposition in North Little Rock, Arkansas, be sure to answer all of the questions honestly, and to the absolute best of your knowledge. You will be sworn in before the deposition starts, and you will be under oath, just as if you were in open court. So, if you lie, you are committing perjury, which can land you in jail.

How Can A North Little Rock, Arkansas Lawyer Help?

If you are the defendant or plaintiff in a lawsuit, chances are good that you'll have to appear in a deposition. You should, by this time, already be represented by a North Little Rock, Arkansas civil litigation attorney. You should do whatever they tell you to do (unless, of course, they tell you to lie, in that case you should find a new lawyer).

If you are not directly involved in the lawsuit, you might still have to appear at a deposition, if you have information that's relevant to the case in North Little Rock, Arkansas. You likely don't need to hire a lawyer in that case, but it might be a good idea to at least get a consultation from one.